Saturday, October 24, 2009

Are You Ready For A Tea Party Rally???All Are Welcome To Come

This Monday, October 26, Governor Granholm has scheduled a meeting in downtown Rochester with Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop and with Oakland County public schools bureaucrats. Granholm and the bureaucrats will be trying to pressure, intimidate and cajole Senator Bishop into agreeing to hike taxes again. Please join us in WELCOMING our Governor with a feisty protest on Monday so that Granholm, Bishop and the tax-ocrats get the message that another tax hike is absolutely NOT WELCOME in Michigan. The meeting is scheduled for 1:30 this Monday (October 26th) at the Rochester Community Schools Administration Building located at 501 W. University (1/2 mile west of Rochester Rd/downtown). University Road is also called Walton Road. The meeting will NOT be open to the general public (after all, it's only your money, other than that, apparently, it is not your business), however there is a really good sidewalk near the building and along University Road - for protest/signs. Meet on the public sidewalk directly in front of the Administration Building on University Road. Governor Granholm is very upset that the state House and Senate refused to increase taxes in the recent budget that passed both those legislative chambers. And she is doing what she can to 'punish' lawmakers by vetoing items in that budget that she believes will cause lawmakers political pain - like making deeper cuts to K-12 public schools. If you are anywhere near Rochester, MI and have an hour or so this Monday afternoon, please show up and help deliver our message to Governor Granholm - 'NOT ANOTHER TAX HIKE!' Bring a sign (if you have time to make one) or just show up to make sure that your voice is heard.Please respond to this email if you plan on attending. Or, just show up. I hope to see you Monday!

Time for unions to take a pay cut just like the rest of the state, and country. If they care enough they should be willing to sacrifice just like the rest of us. Unions time has passed. They are antiquated thugs. The UAW would still have job banks if the citizens hadn't found out about it and made them shut them down. What a joke the unions are.

Wish I could make the rally, but I'm not a union worker, so I have to actually work for a living. Have a good time, let me know how it went!

The unions are what gave us the middle class and the lifestyle the middle class used to enjoy until Ronald Reagan and his buddies started to bust the unions, starting with the air traffic controllers.

Union members work hard for a living and earn their pay every day and frankly, Chris, you owe your living and benefits to unions and their negotiators.

It's big business that has been taking advantage of the American worker. Productivity has been skyrocketing, but wages have been stagnant. UAW members have been giving back pay and benefits for years to try to keep the poorly managed auto companies afloat and they all people like you do is bash union hard working union members.

I think it's downright un-American to trash unions the way you do on a consistent basis.

Henry Ford made the middle class. The unions had a use and they also helped make the middle class. But now the govt does what the unions did so well in the past. We have OSHA and the minimum wage now and that is what the unions used to do. Now they get their members wages and bennies that are out of this world. They make sure you can not fire a bad employee too. Not even for being drunk. They get paid without having to go to work. The unions bit the hand that feeds them. And we the people are the other faction of this. The companies pass those expenses on to us the consumer. So actually Bruce we made the unions strong not the unions making the middle class strong. Did you know that the new hire only make $14 hr with benifites? Is that making the middle clas or is that giving to the few and taking from the many?

Productivity skyrocketing? Maybe if you start by waking up, pulling the needle out of your arm and snapping on bumper covers. It's pretty easy to skyrocket when you start from doing near nothing. Unions don't do anything but reward mediocrity rather than excellence. Why work hard? There's no incentive. Wouldn't want to make the other guy work harder, either.

Bruce we the people that buy there cars cover their pay. If a Fusion was cheeper you would have bought one instead of a Toyota Prius. So how could you act like you are for the unions when you drive a Prius? I will only buy a Ford. But the unions are feeding to much off the companies. Ford's UAW is giving deep and they gave deep last contract. But it will be the new hires that get screwed. Divided we fall. If the union gives a little now they Will get it all back and then some when the companies make money again.

Giving back? How is agreeing that people you don't know will work for half what you do giving anything back, when no one is being hired? The big three have saved "0" dollars from this tiered compensation boondoggle. If the UAW was really interested in saving the auto industry, they would just go away. If they were just a little bit interested in saving the auto industry, there would be wage cuts across the board.

Chris & John & Big Chris - Aside from the fact that unions comprise what about 14% of the workforce now, they have had to give back much of the gains they made in the last 75 years. If you have read anything about the union movement, then you would know that during this countries greatest era of worker prosperity came during the 50's - WHEN UNIONS WERE THE STRONGEST AND HAD THE MOST MEMBERS. It was the unions that ended child labor. It was the unions that brought you the 40 hour work week. It was the unions that made employers pay overtime pay. It was the unions that forced Congress to pass OSHA. They were instramental in getting all manners of social, safety and health laws passed.

The only reason unions like the UAW have been forced into concessions is because of the greed of big business that shipped manufacturing overseas for cheap labor - often cheap child labor. Our trade laws are atrocious. You infer a greed when you remark about unions, yet all they are doing is trying to make a decent living for their workers and decent working conditions. The greed comes from the top - not the bottom. There is nothing wrong with negotiating a decent piece of that economic pie. However, what I am hearing from you is what I have so aptly refer to as "the plantation mentality". This race to the bottom will result in us becoming endentured servants at best. You are probably too young to remember a famous song of the 50's - "16 tons" by Tennesee Ernie Ford. It was ballad that ironically is more appropo today then at any time. Without unions, you would live and work at the whimsy of "the man" - and probably starve. You would do well to study the history of Labor before you rant about unions being worthless or greedy.

Innovate? It's not about innovation, Bruce. It's about profit margins. GM, Ford and Chrysler don't make any money on small cars because they have to pay, what is it, $78/hr all-in for every union worker on the payroll? Pretty tough to compete with the Japs when they make the same type cars and pay their workers $30/hr less all-in (in this country, and those people line up for those jobs!) The only reason the domestics made any money at all in the 90's was because the Japs couldn't make a pickup or SUV that anyone would buy, so we had the market cornered.

In fact, the smart folks at GM took the SUV (Blazer, Suburban) where it is today (Tahoe, Yukon, Suburban, Yukon XL) because of the left. Remember station wagons? They didn't die just because they were ugly. The EPA killed them off with CAFE standards. Nobody could meet the fuel economy requirements, but people still had to haul their families around like they did before. What did they do? They trimmed up the Blazer and Suburban (that were in a different economy bracket) and marketed it to families. The gas guzzlers the left hates are to blame from the actions of the left, how bout that? Don't tell me there's no innovation in Detroit!

No, it's not a matter of ignoring the small car market, they've always known it was there and wanted to compete, but the union chose to price their company's cars out of the market by insisting on insane wages.

Bruce - Toyota et. al. don't make any money on their hybrids. They don't sell enough of them to cover their costs. They make all their money on trucks and cars. Just like 5 of the top 10 selling vehicles are domestic, and the top 2 are, what B.C., Ford F-150 and was it the Chevy Silverado?

When you buy a used car Bruce, I would assume, generally speaking mind you, that whoever sold it to you bought a new car to replace it. This shit doesn't happen in a vacuum buddy.

And please take the time to Chris' comments, if you are going to go after him. He gave props to the unions for helping develop the middle class.

But again, Chris and B.C. are right as rain. The unions are part of the problem now. They reward mediocrity, and fight for people who should be canned. I have several examples from when I worked at Ford. I also have more than anecdotal evidence.

But as you know, the Democratic Party is owned by the unions. Nothing truer has ever been written, even you can't argue about that one. So we already know what your position on unions is, you will back them because your party says to. Which means that you are owned by the unions too. You might say you are the unions' bitch.

Worker Prosperity? It had little to do with the union in the 50s, thanks. It had everything to do with who was building cars. Ever seen a 1958 Toyota Toyopet at your local cruise-in? I bet not, because they were junk. The US had the market worldwide.

We live in a different time now. We've got competition, and competition is good. There's nothing wrong with outsourcing jobs. The workforce has to adapt, just like they did after WWII. Former farmers left their fields and moved to Detroit, because they saw opportunity. Black folks left the south for jobs in the north. People didn't use to whine about times changing.

vomamike - Are you seriously saying that teachers have been making concessions? Unions are more than just autoworkers my friend. We're talking about government employees who get raises when the rest of the country is making cuts. Your argument doesn't hold water.

Bruce - Yes, we are all for capitalism. Stop the subsidies to ethanol producers, the subsidies in all things, and let the market adjust. People will decide for themselves what they want, not because the government tells them what to buy.

The government provides a tax credit (maybe it's a rebate, not sure) of $3,000 on a new hybrid. Of course, this tax (let's call it a credit for simplicity sake, please don't jump all over me if it's a rebate) credit is going to some of the wealthiest Americans. Americans who make 6 or more times above the poverty level. Are these really people who need the credit? I don't think so buddy. So much for helping the needy. The government just distorts the market.

Hey, Big Chris, where are you getting your numbers, Fox "News"? The numbers between the Japanese transplants and UAW workers is virtually the same, somewhere around $28 an hour, not $78 an hour.

CAFE Standards force the manufacturers to do what they would not do on their own. If we don't build cars that get better mileage, then we are forever beholden to importing foreign oil from countries that don't like us very much, like Iraq. We sent our young men and women to fight for oil in Iraq, so that a few wealthy men could get even wealthier. Why do you think Dick (Shooter) Cheney never released the names of the people that met in the White House dividing up Iraq's oil fields?

The U.S. auto companies were fat and happy in the 50's and they built cars that had planned obsolescence and they basically fell apart just as they were paid for.

Early Toyotas were not the best car, but I remember my 1974 Corolla was a fine car back then and had higher quality than other small cars.

So, I guess you're all for a race to the bottom, continuously lower wages and lower standard of living for the vast majority of Americans?

Hey, John, Chris, Big Chris, Brian, Get a Mop, in the words of our President.

Mike, claiming the union had something to do with prosperity in America in the 50's is like saying your garden does well because of the weeds. True, the weeds grow well in a good garden, but they only steal from the crop.

Vomamike you are right about what the unions did. But the gov't now does the job of the union in the work place. Now the unions just try to control the companies they control and politics. They have misused their vast power. The unions are the main reason why the companies can't hire new help. I have seen the unions from inside and from outside. I want the unions to do well. At the rate they are going the members will be out on the streets in less then 10 yrs. The unions need to have employees not robots doing the work. But at the cost of one union member it is cheeper to make a million $ machine to do the work for the next 30 yrs or so. The unions use to it's members is becoming obsolite. One of the big things the Ford UAW gave up in their new contract is the right to strick. Wouldn't it be better in the long run to give up some hourly moneies for their last power over the company? You all are making some great points on the effect of the unions on our society in the past and present times.

Now that Al Franken has been seated in Minnesota, giving the Democrats a filibuster-proof majority if they all vote together, the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill is at the very top of Congress's agenda.

That's why it's vital you act today!

As you know, if "Card Check" passes, workers would no longer be able to vote for or against union boss "representation" in a secret ballot election.

And, of course, Big Labor has yet another ticking time bomb hidden in the "Card Check" legislation.

If the union bosses can drag out negotiations with an employer past 90 days by making outrageous demands, Obama Administration bureaucrats will have the power to use this so-called "problem" as an excuse to write a new labor contract and force its terms and conditions of employment upon those workers.

So you see, not only does Big Labor want to strip workers of the right to a secret ballot but also of the right to vote on their own contracts as well!

That's why your immediate help is so vital.

You see, Big Labor has another trick up its sleeve to make doubly sure "Card Check" is rammed into law.

And that's a "Trojan Horse" version of the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill that's supposedly harmless if you believe the laughable stories coming from Big Labor's mouthpieces in the national media.

But don't be fooled.

The "Trojan Horse" version is every bit as damaging to American workers, jobs and our fragile economy.

Plain and simple, this is nothing more than a ploy by Big Labor to trick fence-riding Senators into caving in and jumping on board.

In fact, quoted in the People's Weekly World -- an overtly COMMUNIST publication -- the AFL-CIO's Director of Legislation said there would be NO CHANGES "that would undermine the basic thrust of the bill."

That's why it's important that you sign this petition IMMEDIATELY.

Should "Card Check" pass, this dangerous power grab would: *** Force millions of additional working Americans to pay union dues under the threat of losing their jobs, filling Big Labor coffers with hundreds of millions of forced-dues dollars;

*** Dramatically increase the wasteful work rules, hate-the-boss propaganda, slowdowns and bitter strikes that shut down businesses and destroy jobs, ensuring that even more plants are closed and more jobs are shipped overseas or lost forever;

*** Enable Big Labor to pump even more campaign cash into the coffers of its radical, tax and spend politicians like Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi who, in turn, will look for even greater ways to increase the union bosses' forced-dues empire.

That's why I'm counting on your help IMMEDIATELY.

You see, a Capitol Hill aide was quoted recently admitting that Harry Reid is planning to move "[Card Check] to the floor and get it passed before anyone can mobilize against it."

So we can't wait. We have to mobilize NOW.

The good news is, the National Right to Work Committee has developed a massive plan to stop the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill dead in its tracks.

About Me

I like to Hunt,Fish,Play with my two boys,Garden,Bonsai and Learn.I used to live in Japan and miss it.I have two young boys 12 and 8 yrs. old. I've been married for over 15years. I have a greenhouse and an organic garden. We have 2 cats,one puggle and fish.